Britain has 3 proposals to help solve the housing crisis — none of which involve building

Sajid Javid.
Reuters
LONDON — The government is planning to large-scale reforms to Britain's housing laws in order to alleviate the housing crisis.

According to The Times, the communities secretary Sajid Javid is expected to announce on Tuesday the relaxation of restrictions on building height as well as moving car parks underground to create more space for developments.

Another major reform will be relaxing laws protecting the so-called green belt areas to allow developers to build more houses.

The green belt is a policy designed to control the outwards sprawl of urbanisation. A ring of countryside surrounding major cities is protected as a rural area, and planning rules prevent urbanisation in those areas to keep typical rural features of agriculture, forestry, and outdoor leisure.

A government spokesperson told The Times: "We don't comment on speculation. The housing white paper will be published shortly."

Government statistics shows that Britain needs to build at least 220,000 new homes annually for the next 10 years to keep up with the growth in the population. The nation already has too few houses for the amount of people looking for a home, so builders are playing catch up.

In November last year, the "Redfern Review," a report commissioned by Labour MP John Healey, revealed a dramatic drop in home ownership among British residents. Pete Redfern, the report's author and chief executive of housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, said that "the nation faces a housing crisis, at the heart of which is the falling rate of homeownership."